Wrappin' It Up

Perfect Attendance

Frame Repair

Jon Boat

Turbo Intake

We've been putting the finishing touches on the school year. We started final exams yesterday and will finish up on Tuesday and Wednesday. These are always long days due to the schedule. The students take a couple of finals per day and then have a lot of time to kill between tests. I'm not sure why we do it the way we do but I try to work right up to the last minute. Usually I get help working to the last minute and this year was no exception.

A former student brought in the aluminum pipe for his car's turbo during Open Shop on Tuesday and I welded that for him. He also has a big 2 into 1 stainless pipe for the exhaust that I tacked one flange on. He was going to check the fit and then bring it back and have me finish weld it for him.

A current student brought in an aluminum Jon boat for me to fix up. It had the normal cracks and missing/loose rivets they normally do. I got it welded up and he put some new rivets in it. I bought a bag of rivets a couple of years ago and I normally get at least one boat repair of this type per year. The welding's a little tricky because the leaks are typically on the "vee" shaped ribs that have been worn down by dragging the boat on the shore. By the time they start leaking, the aluminum is paper thin along the crack and is corroded pretty good as well. As soon as you strike an arc the crack becomes a hole and the junk that was in the crack prevents the puddle from flowing together. A steady hand and some patience usually will prevail, however. If you're a TIG welder, you'll notice in the photo that my hand wasn't completely steady. Any time you see a black spot, that indicates that the tungsten electrode touched the base metal. Oops.

Another student brought his truck in for some frame repair. The frame was cracked where the steering box mounts up. He did all the work himself. I merely acted as a technical advisor. He was having a little trouble welding a little of it with the stick welder so I volunteered to crawl under there but the kid said no. He was going to clean it up a bit and try the MIG because he wanted to do it all himself. It's guys like him that keep me coming back after all these years. He's a nice young man who will be graduating soon. He's got a job lined up already with a fairly good starting wage and a benefit package. I was surprised when he said he wasn't going to be pursuing any higher education, he's certainly capable of it. He'll do fine at whatever he tackles.

The top photo shows one of my boys modeling his new welding jacket he received for having perfect attendance. I give my vocational students a welding helmet or jacket if they have perfect attendance for the year. I give them one day in the last nine weeks, most of the students take the Monday after the prom off. I've been doing this for about 25 years and the most I've ever had was four in one year but I usually get at least one.

So we're done welding for the year and the shop is pretty well cleaned up. I told the department head that I'll teach the woodshop class next year. I signed up for a spindle turning class in a few weeks so I can have at least a little bit of experience with the wood lathe prior to teaching it. I'm a pretty fair hand with the metal lathe but I'm a stone rookie on the wood lathe. I've fixed a bunch of the lathes in the woodshop but never operated them much. That was my only real fear about taking on the class, so this should help my confidence level a lot.

Of course it's Memorial Day weekend so please remember those that have served and given their lives that we can live ours in freedom. Looks like the weather around here is going to be a little shaky but I'm planning on getting out and riding the steam train and hitting the cemeteries.

Be safe.